


Heaven Help The Fool Who Falls In Love

by notSuperboi



Category: Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Imaginary friend AU, M/M, Patrick needs a hug, Suicide Attempt, everyone is sad, slight angst, then everyone is happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 19:27:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9508979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notSuperboi/pseuds/notSuperboi
Summary: "But how?"Pete twirled Patrick around and pressed him against a tree."You see how the color blue represents sadness and the color black is fear?"Patrick pushed back his confusion, "yeah, so?""Well at first glance blue has absolutely nothing to do with sorrow, and yet us humans represent it with that color. The two things have nothing alike but they fit together so perfectly and it makes sense to us that blue is often times registered with sadness."Patrick scuffed his shoes against the tree roots that were sticking out of the ground, "and..?"Something twinkled in Pete's eyes, "and if you can make those two things correspond so easily with each other you can make your own way with words. Like identify colors with feelings. Make meaningless things so much more meaningful. Make darkness turn into light."Patrick smiled up at Pete, "like a new language."Pete snapped his fingers and his face lit up like a Christmas tree, "exactly!"





	

**Author's Note:**

> Ayo, welcome to this shitstorm glad you could show up. This is pretty much me telling the world how much I fucking love Imaginary Friend blurbs. 
> 
> Have fun and don't die I guess.

Patrick sniffled underneath Tyler's treehouse in the cold, hearing imaginary laughter coming from above. Everything was making him feel so blue and no one up there understood. He smelled gasoline and he chalked it up to just his own nerves. He recalled the conversation he had with Pete many moons ago and sighed.

(("But how?"

Pete twirled Patrick around and pressed him against a tree.

"You see how the color blue represents sadness and the color black is fear?"

Patrick pushed back his confusion, "yeah, so?"

"Well at first glance blue has absolutely nothing to do with sorrow, and yet us humans represent it with that color. The two things have nothing alike but they fit together so perfectly and it makes sense to us that blue is often times registered with sadness."

Patrick scuffed his shoes against the tree roots that were sticking out of the ground, "and..?"

Something twinkled in Pete's eyes, "and if you can make those two things correspond so easily with each other you can make your own way with words. Like identify colors with feelings. Make meaningless things so much more meaningful. Make darkness turn into light."

Patrick smiled up at Pete, "like a new language."

Pete snapped his fingers and his face lit up like a Christmas tree, "exactly!"

Patrick giggled and helped Pete pick up sticks and dried leaves for a makeshift fire in the vast woods, Pete making weird puns about sticks the entire time.))

Patrick buried his head in his hands. That was the year when his parents pulled him out of school and made him start seeing a therapist, the year he told them about Pete. 

Patrick was startled as a familiar voice boomed through the night air, "you okay 'Trick? You're looking kinda grey there."

Patrick looked up and hummed in response, patting the leaf covered spot next to him. Pete plopped down, patting Patrick's fedora to get his attention.

"Are you having doubts again?"

Patrick finally met Pete's gaze, feeling ashamed, and nodded.

Pete scowled, "don't listen to what anyone else says, I'm real, not imaginary. If I was fake would I have been able to carry you out of that tree when you got stuck? No, so don't fret lunchbox! It makes you look more desperate than glowing embers!"

Patrick chuckled and leaned his head on Pete's shoulder. 

"Tell me a story."

"What kind of story?"

Patrick sighed, "one to make me forget."

Pete's arms wound around the younger man as he began his story, "once upon a time there was a beautiful woman who fell in love with the king. The king was kind and had a burning passion for the young lady that would shine a bright crimson red every time they were together. The kingdom rejoiced as they were finally destined to be married. The night before the marriage, a large fire erupted in the castle and the king desperately tried to save his fiancé who was locked up in the highest tower. The king cursed the land and all it's creatures as he realized that the only way a fire that big could have been started was by a dragon."

Patrick gasped at the fact and Pete chuckled before continuing, "the dragon was watching from afar and waiting for the young woman to climb out of the tower in a desperate need to escape the fire. When she did, the dragon roared and swooped down, catching the would-be queen with his claws and flying off towards his cave. Once arrived, the dragon gently set the girl down and watched as she scrambled to get as far away from him as possible. He sighed and folded his wings in, transforming into his human self. The girl was breath taken as she looked at the handsome dragon shifter. Fear overcame her attraction and she huddled in the corner, tears streaming down her face. The dragon kept her there for days and showed her kindness and hope. He read her stories of the ancient lands and fed her delicious meals. Eventually, she began to talk to him and warmed up to him."

Pete paused to see if Patrick was still listening and smiled at him, "the dragon shifter flew her to other mystic lands and showed her the world. She only showed him kindness now rather than fear. Some nights, she'd lay awake and stroke his gold and silver scales when he was a dragon and think about the king. She no longer felt a Crimson passion for him, but for the dragon shifter. When she finally asked for a name he gave her Diagon. She felt that it suited him. Once, she felt indescribable loneliness and asked if she could go back to the king, just to say goodbye. The dragon shifter had a fire in his eyes but said yes nevertheless, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. Anything to make his beloved happy again."

Pete sighed at the next part of the story, "they entered the kingdom with Diagon in human form, the gold and silver shining in his hair. They requested to see the king and were escorted to the castle immediately. The first thing they noticed as they waited for the king was that the throne room now housed two thrones and Diagon sensed his love's worry and confusion. The king emerged, finally, with a tall woman who seemed full of fire. The woman was obviously the queen. Diagon growled as he saw how sad his beautiful lady had become. The lady told the king who she was and he was immediately coming forward to hug her. A distant memory was lodged in his eyes and he looked at Diagon with distaste before asking who he was. The beautiful lady didn't tell him and instead her eyes filled with anger and revenge and Diagon watched as she yelled at the king. The king yelled back, telling her that she had no right to be mad at him for moving on if she did it herself as well. He gestured at Diagon and the girl raised her voice one last time to tell him that Diagon was the dragon who kidnapped her."

Patrick felt dread rise in his chest as he heard the last part of the story, "the king hit her with anger and the queen screamed as Diagon couldn't control himself from his need to protect. He shifted to a dragon and attacked the king, killing him in one blow. The queen's tormented screams filled the girl's ears and she felt hot tears run down her face, knowing what was happening next. Knights rushed in to fight Diagon with Ice arrows, one of the only ways to pierce a dragon's skin. Diagon cried out in agony as multiple arrows shot into his skin. A loud boom resonated across the kingdom as the gold and silver body fell against the castle floor, silver blood spewing from the shaking form. The girl met eyes with her love and screamed with agony as yet another romance was brutally murdered. She turned on her heel and raced through the castle corridors, grabbing a torch from the wall. She ran up the stairs and towards the same tower where she was taken from all those years ago. When she reached her destination a sob fell from her throat and she lit the wooden beams alight, standing in the center of the dancing flames. She smiled as the feeling of unconsciousness finally came. There was only one funeral and that was for the king. The queen, out of rage, made a promise to herself to hunt and kill every single dragon that walked the earth."

Pete looked at Patrick's shocked eyes and said happily, "the end!"

Patrick gaped at him like a fish, "what? No! That can't be the end!"

"It is the end because I'm the story teller and I said so, so come on, you're mom is gonna be worried and it's getting late."

Patrick pouted, "why won't you ever let me introduce you to anyone?"

Pete looked at him solemnly, "you know how it is."

No, Patrick really didn't.

 

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

About an hour into his session he heard a scratchy voice say,

"So, Patrick. Tell me how you're feeling today."

Patrick looked at Dr. Wood from across the table and huffed, recalling earlier when he told Pete he had to see his therapist in the morning and his friend made an extravagant joke about 'morning wood'. He wanted to make things simpler and not talk to his therapist at all . That's how every session started out with, Patrick being too stubborn and Dr. Wood admittedly giving up. Or he could cave in and describe how he felt using weather terms. He did feel cloudy with a chance of snow and confusing his therapist was one of his favorite things to do.

"I feel like I'm on a constant withdrawal, but at the same time a constant high. It's confusing." 

His therapist raised a brow, "that's a side effect of the new medication. How have your parents been dealing with you?"

Patrick really wished Pete were there right now, "they don't get it."

"And they never will get it Patrick, if you don't talk to them."

Patrick huffed, "you don't get it either, none of you understand. You don't get me and you don't get Pete."

"Patrick," his therapist sighed, "Patrick, Pete isn't real."

Patrick sunk back in his chair, "yes he is. He just doesn't like you."

He heard his therapist sigh in defeat before saying, "I think we're done here."

Patrick got up from his seat and crossed the room, glaring at Dr. Wood, "one day, Pete will let me introduce himself to you, and when that day comes, you'll be too stupid to do anything other than fumble around like a fish on dry land."

And with that, Patrick slammed the door and started off towards home.

 

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Patrick sat on the slanted roof, staring into the depths of the stars. Pete had climbed through his window and announced that the sky was clear, saying that he'd show Patrick all of the constellations. Patrick listened as Pete named off all the zodiac signs and then went into a lengthy story about the tale of Sagittarius, Scorpio, and Orion. Patrick had heard and listened to every single word, laughing at the dramatic voices Pete told the story with. And when Pete asked him if he believed that the tale of the astrological signs were true, Patrick had said with all honesty, 

"Yes."

And then Pete had kissed him.

And you better fucking believe that Patrick had kissed him back.

When he pulled away he found that everything he saw was tinted with Crimson.

His heart started beating faster.

 

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"Patrick," his mother called, "honey, I'm coming in."

Patrick saw Pete's eyes go comically wide before he disappeared out the window with a simple, "Bye."

"Hey mom."

Her eyes twinkled, "hey honey. How are you feeling?"

Patrick shrugged. He felt rainy, not particularly bad and not particularly good. And that was okay, Pete had told him that sometimes you don't feel alright and you have to accept that fact, but you also have to know that one day you'll be better than ever and as time passes, the days where you feel bad get shorter. He smiled at the thought of his love.

"You seem happy, what's gotten into you?"

Patrick looked at his mother and saw hope in her eyes, he really hates to put her down like this.

"I'm not happy, I was just thinking about Pete."

His Mother's smile faltered and she sighed. She seemed to have given up on him and it made a thunder storm arise deep in his soul. 

"Patrick, Pete isn't-"

Patrick watched as his Mother fumbled with her words before sighing again.

"Tell me about him."

That made Patrick confused, but sunshine replaced the thunder and he felt yellow. He decided to tell her.

"Pete has way too many middle names. He's funny and kind but he has issues inside of him that he tries to hide, but he's never been very good at hiding anything, especially from me. His eyes are a chocolate brown and they twinkle when he tells me stories or when he talks about something that he's passionate about. He just recently bleached his hair and he plays the bass. He's most passionate about the bass."

He looked up and saw a frown on his Mother's face and suddenly, the storm was back with full force.

"I knew you wouldn't understand."

His Mother twiddled her thumbs, "I'm sorry honey, I just don't see how someone could know so much about an imaginary friend it's just-"

"Mom," he bit out, "Pete's real."

"Of coarse he is."

Patrick bit his tongue as his mother stood up from his bed and walked towards the door.

"Mom, I know that Pete's real because we kissed and how could something like that be fake?"

His Mother sucked in a sharp breath before stating simply, "I think it's time to talk to Dr. Wood about upping your dosage."

And she left without another word, leaving Patrick alone to deal with the thunder raging inside of him.

 

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Patrick was walking next to Pete and holding his hand. Patrick shivered in the cold, desperately huddling closer to Pete for warmth. Pete stopped them in their usual spot underneath the canopy of trees. He gathered surrounding sticks and started a fire with a purple lighter, Patrick watching him the entire time.  
Pete looked at Patrick and patted the spot next to him, Patrick shivered before walking over. Pete huffed at him before taking off his navy blue scarf and wrapping it haphazardly around Patrick. The shorter boy just rolled his eyes and snuggled in closer to Pete, who wrapped his arms around him.

"Sometimes, I miss the spring."

Patrick hummed in response.

"I miss all the colors and pretty things. Everything now is just grey and white. And it's a blinding white too"

Patrick's voice was muffled in Pete's shoulder, "not dark?"

"No," Pete said quickly, "never dark. When something becomes dark, then all hope is gone and it's time to give up."

Patrick thought otherwise, "it's never an okay time to give up."

Pete snorted, "when your life becomes pitched in dark, then you'll know why it's okay to give up."

An hour or so passed with just them huddled together for warmth, their breaths fogging the air. Patrick felt foggy, how strange. He smiled to himself before Pete spoke up.

"Sometimes," Patrick leaned back so that he could see Pete, "sometimes, I see darkness creeping up on the edges of my vision and I think, 'this is it', but then I remember you and everything turns Crimson again."

Patrick snuggled into Pete, trying to meld their bodies together.

"Don't give up on me, 'Trick."

There was a small pleading undertone to Pete's voice and Patrick meant it when he said,

"I won't."

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Patrick was lying in Pete's arms, his head resting on Pete's naked chest. He wrapped his leg across Pete's, trying to be as close as he could. Patrick started tracing patterns into Pete's sweat slicked skin and chuckled as he drew a dick. Pete's arm wrapped around Patrick's own bare body and he looked up at his love's glowing face. His face was shining like glowing embers and Patrick felt whole again. 

"Pete?"

"Yeah, Trickydoll?" 

"Would you wait to run away with me if it came to it?"

Patrick didn't know what he was talking about but Pete seemed to understand

"Of coarse I'll wait to run away with you. And I'll wait all fucking night if I have to."

Crimson and fire burned low in Patrick's gut and he surged forwards to capture Pete's lips in a heated kiss. He moaned low in his throat and pulled away to look Pete in the eyes.

"You're real."

"Who said that I wasn't?"

Patrick laughed and settled his head back against Pete's chest. He felt foggy, but in a good way.

 

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"I think that you're medication needs to be changed again. I'm thinking am-"

"Sure, okay."

A sigh, some shuffling. Patrick refused to look up.

"Patrick, I think it's time for you to let go of Pete."

Patrick scowled and felt humid all of a sudden, "Pete's real, i know for a fact that he is."

Dr. Wood raised his brow, "how do you know that?"

"Because," Patrick's cheeks felt hot. "Because I had sex with him."

His therapist spluttered, "you what? Patrick, okay. Remember Brendon, Dallon, Ryan, Gerard, Mikey, and Frank?"

Patrick recalled his old friends who introduced him to Tyler and Josh, "yeah? So?"

"Tyler tried to kill himself three years ago by setting his treehouse on fire. What he didn't know what that his friends were all trapped inside. Patrick, you were the only one who made it out unscathed. During the incident, you met Pete. You said he saved you."

Fear spiked into Patrick's heart, "what are you saying?"

"Pete's a coping mechanism."

Patrick refused to meet Pete in their usual spot that night and instead, cried himself to sleep.

 

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Three days without Pete made him extremely lonely and he kept refusing to meet him. Sometimes, he was too stubborn for his own good.  
That night, Pete crawled into his window with something akin to pain on his face. Patrick refused to use his meaningless words method at the moment.

"You've been avoiding me."

"I know."

"Why?"

"I'm sorry."

A sigh. "Patrick? You seem grey, are you okay?"

A flashback to that night, "I'm sorry."

A nervous laugh, "c'mon lunchbox, stop apologizing. You're forgiven. Now tell me why."

"What if you really aren't real?"

"Y'know, I'm really starting to get offended at the lack of belief in my existence-"

"Pete, I'm serious."

Pete huffed, "Patrick, I'm fucking real okay? We had sex Patrick, sex. Your brain must be really messed up to think that having sex with me was fake."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"You're real. Now come cuddle me because I'm feeling edges of black in my vision."

And he was immediately enveloped in a hug. The darkness was replaced with Crimson and for a moment, everything was okay again. But the fear came back when he realized that he really didn't believe himself. 

He really thought that Pete wasn't real.

The black returned and covered more than just the edges of his vision this time. A sob wracked his body and Pete held him closer. 

He finally knew what Pete meant by giving up at the right time. A tear ran down his face and he chuckled as he thought about how he was the one who was waiting for Pete to run away now. He just didn't know if he could wait all night, he wasn't strong. Pete was a dragon and Patrick was a helpless damsel in distress. That's how the story goes.

And now, he's waiting for the end of the story where he actually died in that fire. 

 

Patrick choked on another sob as the darkness crept closer towards the center of his vision. He wasn't okay and he started to doubt Pete on the fact that it was 'okay to not be okay'.

He missed the Crimson that was too far to touch, but just in his line of sight.

"Pete...?"

Pete looked down at him softly, "yeah, 'trick?"

"We can run now. Far away from anything. Just you and me."

Pete sighed heavily, "I'd love to. Fuck, Patrick. I'd love so bad to take you away from everything, to show you worlds you could never dream of. But the time isn't right, you aren't right at the moment and we need to fix that. Okay?"

Patrick didn't understand but he thought he did and nodded anyways, "okay."

Okay was starting to be a recurring theme for a lie. He wanted so badly to tell Pete that it wasn't okay, that he wasn't okay, and that he may never be okay.

But somehow, Patrick sensed that Pete already knows.

 

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Patrick ended up having a breakdown later that week. He knew it was bound to happen, he just didn't think it would happen that soon.  
He was walking to the small local store they had near the woods to pick up a gallon of milk for his mother. She gave him an extra couple of dollars like she always did for him to get candy. He always bought more than he needed for him and Pete to share. Pete would end up eating most of Patrick's candy anyways because the store rarely had anything that he liked other than Twix and they had run out of that a while back.  
He shuffled his feet in the snow that was still falling heavily and walked underneath the traffic bridge. He had taken a shortcut through the woods, not bothering to follow the roads. The store's lights gleamed in the distance and he felt a rush of anxiety. Patrick sighed and wished that Pete would've come with him. He had refused when asked and Patrick felt that Pete was becoming less and less real with every passing day. He felt ashamed to admit it but he was starting to believe what the others had said.  
As he approached the store he saw what looked to be a group of jocks from the school he used to go to standing around outside. Patrick recalled grey hallways and faces. Nothing stood out. One thing that sparked up as a vivid memory was the torment that these jocks created for him. He sucked in a deep breath and immediately regretted it as the cold air burned his lungs. He coughed loudly, alerting the attention of the Football players.

One stalked towards him, Patrick forgot their names. They were never important to him and will never be important to anyone. The jock had red hair and Patrick felt a hatred towards fire in that moment.

"Hey Freaktrick, heard you got kicked out of school for being a nut case."

Jocks surrounded him from all sides now, "yeah, rumor has it you have an imaginary friend. How fucking pathetic! Didn't you like fight a teacher because of him?"

One of them who had horrible highlights spoke up, "more like imaginary boyfriend. This kid is just too much of a fucking nut! What was your friends name again? Pedro?"

Patrick really should've learned how to be quiet by now, "Pete."

The orange one sneered, "what was that?"

A deep breath, "His name is Pete and he's real."

The jocks started laughing their asses off and wow, Patrick didn't even believe his own words so why should he be trying to make others believe them? He felt his face get hot and the threat of tears were well on their way.

"Alright, alright. That's enough boys. Time to teach Freaktrick what we do to scumbags like him these days. Shall we?"

The jocks started closing in on him and Patrick was well aware of the bone crushing hand on his shoulder. He whimpered as they manhandled him against the side of the store, roughly pushing him against the wall. The first fist came as a shock to him, but besides the pain, he felt numb. Not for the first time, he wished Pete was there. And as the kicks came he realized something.

Pete wasn't there because he couldn't be. He wasn't real. Those words were like ice arrows that could pierce through his dragon's skin. Through Pete's skin.

And if Pete wasn't real, then who was.

 

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Patrick had decided that it was time to track down Brendon. He was significantly closer to Gerard, Brendon, and Mikey than anyone else. Brendon was first in alphabetical order. Patrick had maybe illegally looked at his old friend's medical file to look at the extent of his injuries and found out that Tyler was in jail for attempted homicide as well as something involving pyro. He couldn't remember the name of it.  
Brendon had been air lifted to a hospital for treatment for third degree burns on his right arm and multiple fractured ribs when a wooden beam fell on him. The worst part was when Patrick learned that Brendon had been trapped underneath the beam after another large part of the treehouse collapsed and had dropped on his head. Brendon suffered from a severe concussion and was lucky that he made it out alive.  
The house that Patrick walked up to gave off a homey feeling and Patrick couldn't stop from thinking about how sunny it is in such a dull and foggy world. Rain drops could've glided off of the house, nothing gloomy could've come to this place.  
Patrick knocked on the door and watched multiple charms and dream catchers that hung from the front porch flow in the wind. A couple wind chimes whistled in the cold air and Patrick couldn't help the smile on his face. Brendon's mother was superstitious and owned three different decks of tarot cards and had more spell books than Patrick could count. She claimed that they were real and Brendon had always told him that they bought them from Amazon.  
He remembered having a seance with Taco Bell food while Gerard read off a weird spell from one of the books. They had laughed about it but Brendon swore that ever since that day his house was haunted by a Mexican ghost. Mikey had jokingly called him racist and that was that.  
Patrick startled as the door swung open and he was greeted by none other than Dallon Weekes. Of fucking coarse he was there. He knew that Ryan, Bren, and Dallon had a thing going on even before the whole fucked up incident.

"Uh, hello?"

Patrick chuckled. Yeah, he was probably not very recognizable, especially with the navy blue scarf that Pete gave him wrapped around his lower face and a large pastel coat covering him up. Pete said he looked cute in pastel a couple months ago and Patrick made it his duty to wear more of it sometimes. The fedora must've given away something because a light of recognition swarmed across Dallon's face.

"Holy-Patrick?!"

Patrick smiled and took in Dallon's form. He had a large burn scar running from his neck down and his hands looked severely scarred. Patrick wished he could've done something that night to save them.

"Hey Dallon." His voice sounded broken to his own ears and Patrick wished so bad that he could pull a Mikey Way and not feel anything. He wondered vaguely how he could've forgotten his friends, could've forgotten that night. Dr. Wood had said something about the experience being too traumatic for him and that the best way to cope was to push it to the back of his mind. It made sense how his family were always walking on eggshells around him.

"Patrick, what are you doing here? I mean, not that I don't wanna see you, fuck, we've been wondering about you for so long."

"C-can I come in? I promise I'll explain everything better I would just rather not explain it three different times."

"Yeah of coarse- wait, three? You knew about the whole Ryden/Brallon dynamic?"

Patrick shrugged and looked around the house as he was let in, "I just had a hunch."

A soft voice sounded from further into the house and a louder, more melodic voice laughed over it. Patrick smiled at the sweet feeling of nostalgia and felt content as the black in his vision crawled back towards only the edges.

"Hey Dallon! Who was at the...door...?"

Patrick stopped in front of the entrance to the living room, seeing Brendon's shocked face. He saw Ryan who sported a knee brace and Patrick recalled reading his file as well. Ryan had jumped from the tree house, trying to get the others to do the same. Frank had been the only one who followed and when he jumped, Ryan fucked up his knee in too many ways to count. Frank broke his arm and slipped a disc in his spine. 

"Treestump?"

Patrick smiled at Brendon, "Beebo?"

Brendon surged forwards and enveloped Patrick into a hug, laughing and crying at the same time.

"What uh, what brings you here after all that time?"

Patrick turned to the sound of Ryan's voice, "it's a long story and I just really needed to talk to people who would understand."

Brendon pulled Patrick to the couch and sandwiched him between Ryan and himself, Dallon taking a comfortable spot on the floor.

"We're listening."

Patrick could've fucking cried but instead he told them of everything. Of the therapy, of how he forced himself to forget, of his Mother not understanding. He paused as he began to tell them about Pete. These were his friends, they would always understand. When he told them, the seemed to know everything and Patrick believed they did. He finished his story with him illegally digging around and finding them and Brendon laughed at that as he rested his head on Ryan's shoulder, snuggling in close.

"So, what's been going on on your end?"

Brendon's eyes flickered and Patrick saw thunder but Ryan was quick to speak, "Tyler was arrested for attempted homicide and shit, but he kept fucking apologizing and even though he almost killed us, we forgave him. He was broken and to be fair, it was his treehouse and we never told him we were gonna be up there. He seemed even more broken after the incident and when they arrested him he kept trying to kill himself. Eventually it got so bad they took him to a psychiatric hospital."

Patrick swallowed, "anything good?"

Dallon huffed, "we've been worrying about you. We even asked your mom but she was so keen on keeping you safe she forbade us from seeing you. Gerard is an artist now at fucking twenty three. That idiot can do anything. Mikey and Frank still go to the school- they're seniors now- and Frank proposed to Gee. So they're engaged and we decided to do online courses. Jocks got to be a little too much after the incident. That's pretty much it."

Patrick smiled before something hit him, "what about Josh?"

The trio shared a look before Brendon said, "he goes wherever Tyler goes. He helps him out at the hospital and tries to make them release him now that Tyler has been acting better. He really wants to live a normal life with him. It's kinda sad really."

Patrick looked down, "maybe," he really wished he was real, "maybe if Pete is real and feels like it, I can introduce you guys some day."

He almost burst into tears at Brendon's next sentence.

"We'd love that."

And Patrick didn't know how much he needed to hear that.

 

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It had been a week since he saw Brendon and the others and it was much needed. After their little chit chat, they exchanged numbers and clicked again. It was like they weren't even apart for that long. It made the darkness go away and Patrick guessed that it was a type of temporary happiness.  
It had also been a week since he last talked to Pete. He refused to meet his fate and he thought that he had made Pete feel distressed but Patrick said to him that he needed to figure things out and that was that. But Patrick didn't realize what so long without him would do to his mind. He needed Pete's advice and silly poetic words. He needed to be okay again. Patrick needed Pete now more than ever and it was killing him.  
That's why Patrick is sitting in the melting snow, waiting underneath the canopy of trees. It was their usual meeting spot and Patrick doubted that Pete wouldn't be here. The scrunch of shoes on watery snow filled his ears and Patrick looked up to see the defensive stance of none other than Pete Wentz.

"Hey Pete."

Pete sat down next to him.

"Hey Patrick."

And that was that. Patrick leant his head on Pete's shoulder and told him of everything. Of Tyler, of Brendon. How he needs to see his other friends but is too scared. It was like there never was a distance between them. They were like soul mates. And Patrick couldn't stop his rambling and he spilled out his doubts like a flood in the rain.

"I honest to god don't know if you're real and I don't know why I feel this way. Everyone tells me otherwise and it's getting harder and harder to believe myself on this and I don't know what to do because I'm practically fucking lost if you're not real."

He turned tear stained baby blues towards Pete, "how do I know for certain that I'm not crazy?"

All it took was for Pete to utter two simple words and Patrick immediately pushed back all of his doubt, "trust me."

And Patrick didn't know why, but he did.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

It was raining hard the day of Patrick's birthday and the clouds covered every and all light. It was still cold but getting warmer as April had moved through. He had changed medications twice that month due to his Mother and her weird suspicions.  
Patrick sighed, he hated being inside where his parents made him socialize. It was his birthday so they had invited relatives over. It's not like he didn't notice what crude things they said about him behind his back. Apparently, he had been dubbed as the nut case of the family, a disgrace. It made him annoyed and there was a sinking feeling deep in his gut as people fought tooth and nail just to avoid him.  
A distant cousin who he didn't know the name of, came over and sat next to him. There was a nervous aura around the kid and when he spoke, his voice was shaky. It took a minute for Patrick to realize that the boy was afraid of him.

"H-happy birthday, Patrick."

Obviously his mother had put him up to this.

"Thanks."

The kid shifted in his seat and when he didn't immediately bolt like Patrick was expecting, he got suspicious.

"Yes?"

The kid jumped at the sound of Patrick's voice and looked down, "I was just thinkin', are ya actually crazy or is it all jus' some grown up talk?"

Patrick huffed, "to be honest, I'm not quite sure whether it's true or not anymore. I'm not the best person to be asking for that sort of thing, but I'll tell you that I'm as sane as the next person. I've just got a few kinks in my step."

The kid nodded and ran away with a squeak. Patrick sighed as he realized not even his own family would want anything to do with him and wow how fucked up is that? He started counting the time and when two hours came along most of his relatives started to leave. A few trickled about the room but only the close ones dared to stay in a place that housed a nut case. Patrick felt his stomach in knots and frantically went to the back of the house for some fresh air. The first thing he noticed once he calmed down was the faint patter of someone throwing pebbles at the windows.  
Patrick got closer and saw a head of fading bleach blonde.

"Pete?" his suspicions were confirmed as a rock was chucked through one of the open windows. 

Patrick frantically ran to the back door and outside, making sure Pete didn't throw anymore and accidentally end up breaking something.

"Pete! Fucking- god damn! Stop that!"

Pete looked like a deer caught in the headlights and slowly lowered his arm, dropping the rock to the ground.

"Uh, happy birthday?"

Patrick smiled, "thank you. Now, what're you doing here?"

Pete smiled, "it's your birthday 'trick!" At this Pete moved forward, an eager look on his face, "your surprise awaits! I've got you a blindfold so you don't know where we're going, making it an ultra surprise! How's that sound?"

Patrick's head was spinning, "uh, perfect?"

"Great! Let's go!"

 

Pete took Patrick by the hand and pulled him in close, holding up the blindfold. He seemed to be thinking about something for a minute and Patrick wearily said, "um, Pete?"

Pete smiled and pecked a quick kiss on his lips, raising up the blindfold once more. 

"Shall we?"

Patrick opened his mouth to make a witty retort back when he heard his mother calling for him.

Patrick rolled his eyes, "I'll go see what she wants then we'll go, okay?"

Pete nodded and gave Patrick's hand a little squeeze before letting go altogether. Patrick ran up to the back porch and opened the door, looking around for his Mother.

"Patrick!"

"Yeah, Mom?"

She turned around with a smile, "honey, your friends are here!"

Patrick mentally cringed at her tone of voice. She seemed actually surprised that he had any friends at all. Patrick pushed back the sinking feeling in his gut and brushed past his still smiling Mom. Adjusting his fedora, Patrick walked towards the front door and hastily opened it.  
The first thing he saw was a head of bright red hair.

"Gerard?!"

Gerard smiled and Patrick took the time to register that Mikey and Frank were there as well.

"Mikey, Frank! Holy smokes guys."

Gerard grinned like the fucking Cheshire Cat, holding up a haphazardly wrapped gift, "happy birthday Treestump, this is from the entire clique to you. Even Tyler and Josh pitched in."

Patrick noticed the way that Gerard's voice got slightly quieter at the mention of the youngest two and decided not to mention anything from that night today. Frank poked his head through the doorway and smiled at Patrick's blushing face.

"Really guys, you didn't have to."

Frank then pushed past Gerard and into Patrick's full line of view. The first thing he noticed was how much tattoos Frank had gotten over the span of a couple years. He had more than Pete. 

"Oh but Patrick, we wanted to. So go open your gift and let us eat cake."

Mikey smiled, "ignore him, he's probably still giddy from asking Gerard to marry him. I honestly am glad I moved out with Alicia, otherwise I'd be hearing Frank making Gerard beg-"

"Okay! That's enough! Let's just go inside." Patrick chuckled at Gee's comically wide eyes. Frank was giggling the entire time they walked to the kitchen.

"There's still a whole ice cream cake left so I guess you guys can eat that. I'll be right back, I need to go tell Pete it'll be longer than a couple minutes."

Frank looked confused and Gerard only smiled at the mention of Pete. Mikey had his mastered poker face on so no one but Gerard could even tell what he was thinking.

"Hey! Patrick!"

Patrick stopped walking to the back of the house and turned around, giving Mikey a skeptical look, "yes?"

"Just so you know, we're always gonna be here for you. Also Brendon's gonna be here soon so be prepared for that shit storm."

Patrick laughed, walking away from the kitchen and towards the back porch. As soon as he opened the door the first thing he saw was Pete sitting in the middle of the field looking at the sunset.

"Pete," Pete looked up at him and Patrick heard faint laughter and chaos coming from inside. Brendon was there with the others, then.

"My friends are here so it's probably gonna be a couple hours before we can go do that surprise. I'm sorry."

Pete smiled at him and Patrick returned the favor. He turned around and headed back to the house.

"Patrick!"

"Yes?" Patrick turned around.

"I uh, I think it's time I met your friends."

Patrick's smile grew and before he knew it there were tears in his eyes and everything was okay again. There was a fire deep in his soul and Pete was the only one who could have started it.

"Only if you want me to of coarse."

Patrick let out a sob, "of fucking coarse I want you to, but it's up to you."

Pete only nodded and got up from the ground, hurriedly walking over towards Patrick. His deep brown met baby blues and it seemed like an eternity before Pete enveloped Patrick in a much needed hug.  
When they pulled apart, Pete had on a shaky smile.

"Y'know, maybe I should introduce you to Joe and Andy. They'd fucking adore you, sweetheart."

Patrick smiled passed the tears, "I'd love that."

Pete grinned back and took Patrick's hand, letting the younger lead him inside.

"Brendon you fucking sewer rat, sit the fuck down."

"Jesus fucking Christ. Dallon! Control your boyfriends!"

The voices of Ryan and Mikey yelling filled Patrick's ears and he gave Pete a reassuring glance before the terrified screams of Brendon broke the comforting gesture.

"Ugh, sorry Pete."

Pete gave him a sideways glance and chuckled.

Patrick took a deep breath, "guys! What the hell are you doing?"

Frank's voice came from the kitchen, "Ryan's attacking Brendon and Dallon is trying to put a stop to the fiasco!"

Patrick groaned as Pete kept laughing, "meeting in the kitchen! There's someone I'd like you guys to meet!"

There was one more screech from Brendon and a frustrated groan from Ryan as Dallon dragged their asses into the kitchen passed Patrick.

"Okay, you ready?"

Pete stopped laughing and gave Patrick a nod. They walked into the kitchen where his friends were sitting at a crowded table.

"Okay," they all looked up at him before looking at Pete warily.

"This," he gestured at his boyfriend, "is Pete and we're dating."

Brendon smiled wide, "nice to meet you Pete, we're very happy that you are in fact real."

Dallon elbowed Brendon causing him to squeak. Gerard and Mikey both said their greetings followed by a chorus of hellos from around the table.

Patrick smiled as Pete made a stupid pun and lead him to a chair.

"Patrick, honey! Are you boys okay? I thought I heard screaming!"

Patrick smiled at his mom, "we're fine Brendon's just being Brendon."

His mom nodded and her eyes swept over the familiar faces before scrunching up in confusion when she saw Pete.

"Patrick, who's that?"

Patrick looked at Pete and he nodded.

"That's Pete, my very real boyfriend."

His Mother's face turned shocked and she spluttered, "y-you mean-?!"

Patrick laughed, "yeah the Pete."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Stumph." Pete smiled sweetly and Patrick saw his friends trying to hold in their laughter.

Patrick's Mom's eyes went wide and she hastily left the room. Patrick laughed alongside his friends and realized one thing.

He didn't remember the ending where the dragon got to live. He guessed that this ending was infinitely better than Pete's fucked up version. 

He focused back in on the conversation and laughed at the heated battle between Pete and Mikey on who could play the bass better. Brendon had spoken up and told everyone that Dallon could also play the bass and was better than both of them but Frank snorted and told him, "yeah but Dallon is like always a disappointed dad so it doesn't count."

Which lead to multiple dad jokes throughout the night and Ryan came up with the nickname "Dadlon."

Patrick probably laughed harder than ever before in that one night alone. He smiled at an extravagant story that Gerard was telling followed by sarcastic remarks from Mikey and felt a gentle squeeze from his hand. He looked at Pete and and watched his love mouth "thank you". And Patrick was back on cloud nine.

 

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

 

Patrick closed the door as the last of his friends trickled out. He heaved a sigh and turned towards Pete who graciously held up the blindfold once more.

"Surprise time?"

"Surprise time."

Patrick was lead outside where Pete tied the blindfold around his head. He grabbed ahold of Pete's hand, cautiously trekking through the field. The only sign that they were in the forest was Patrick constantly tripping on sticks and the sharp scent of pine. The amount of ground sticks lessened and Patrick realized they were standing in a clearing. The blindfold fell from his face and the first thing he saw was a ton of blue lights strung across the trees and lanterns lit up above his head.

 

"Pete what's all this?"

Pete smiled, "hush and tell me; how long ago did I first kiss you?"

Patrick recalled, "a year ago."

"And how long have I known you?"

"Three years."

Pete smiled and kissed Patrick quickly before grabbing his hand and leading him to a canopy of trees. Underneath the canopy were two beanbag chairs and a small box sitting on the one decorated with stars.

He sucked in a sharp breath, "Pete..."

"Open it."

Patrick walked over to where the box was and smoothed his hand over the nice velvet. His heart was beating rapidly as he opened it. Inside was an obsidian black ring with a bright blue diamond etched inside. On the side in French it read, "Jusqu'à ce que la mort nous sépare."

 

Pete's voice was soft next to his ear, "till death do us part."

 

Patrick looked up at Pete, "forever."

**Author's Note:**

> The ring can be interpreted as anything. Promise ring? Sure. Happy little gift? Most definitely. Marriage proposal? A little far fetched but whatever floats your boat u guess. Also fun fact this was supposed to be really sad but I started to cry while writing it. I love angst with a happy ending so if you guys ever want me to write that I'm down for it. Another fun fact is the little sewer rat quote from Ryan in this fic is like my fav thing and I got it from Elijah Daniel. He's fucking great you should check out Elijah & Christine on YouTube just sayin. See you later my dudes.


End file.
